Medical Marijuana Roundup: Local Control, PTSD, and Reporters as Patients

A House committee has killed a proposal that would have allowed local governments in Colorado to ban the sale of medical marijuana in dispensaries, saying cities, towns, and counties already have enough power to regulate the industry. Some lament the demise of the bill, which they hoped would slow the booming business. State Representative Steve King (left), a Republican from Grand Junction, thinks the constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana “was never intended to have a pot shop on every corner and a bud in every bowl” (via The Associated Press). And a provision to allow veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to use medical pot also died at the statehouse, despite the support of Representative Sal Pace, a Pueblo Democrat who recently told 7News a board “of physicians in New Mexico just verified that medical marijuana does assist fighting the symptoms of PTSD.” Meanwhile, Pueblo Chieftain reporter Loretta Sword goes on a familiar assignment in Colorado Springs, where the medical marijuana industry is booming, to “see how difficult, or easy, it is to become certified as a medical marijuana patient.” Westword reporter Joel Warner undertook a similar “assignment” last September and has been on the beat ever since. This week he compiles a list of the pro-marijuana power players, led by attorneys Rob and Jessica Corry, who are profiled this month in 5280. Vanessa Martinez contributed to this post.